Pipeline leaks seal road's fate.

Frequent leaks in the drinking water line under the Murinjapalam-Kumarapuram stretch is proving to be the bane of that road.

Seven leaks have been reported in the line that runs through a stretch developed under the City Road Improvement Project (CRIP). Four of these leaks were attended to on Wednesday after several reminders from the Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB). The remaining leaks are still left unattended.

The KWA takes three to four weeks on an average to plug the leaks. The substrata gets wet due to the delay in carrying out the repairs and settlement (slight depression) has occurred in stretches that were dug up. For motorists, it is a bumpy ride.

Project Director, Thiruvananthapuram Road Development Company (TRDCL), the concessionaire of CRIP, Anil Kumar Pandala said digging of the road could have been avoided had a 'rider main' (feeder pipelines on both sides of the road, connected to the mainline) been laid.

'We waited for one year and KWA did not respond,' he said. Digging of roads to plug leaks in the drinking water line could be avoided where the rider main was laid on the Vellayambalam-Sasthamangalam stretch.

Motorists are deprived of the earlier riding comfort on the road as the TRDCL cannot use roller for compacting while restoring the stretch. The only way to restore the earlier smoothness is to relay the stretch after laying the 'rider main,' he said.


THE HINDU